Convertible furniture.



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CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE. APPLlcMlmI msn Jun' 22. |915.

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CONVEBIBLE FURNITURE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, MN5. V m azgwgf mmm Mw. M? mi 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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APPLICATION FILED 1uLv2z,w15.

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' for ALEXANDER D. ELLIOTT, VIOLA, ILLINOIS.

CDNVERTIBLE FURNITURE.

remesa.,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 11, 1917.

application and ruiy aa, lala. serial no. 41,`2sa. e

To all whom z'z may concern.'

lBe it known that l, ALEXANDER D. ELLIOTT, a citizen of the United-States, residing at Viola, in the county of Mercerand State of llllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Convertible Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

rllhe present invention relates to improvements upon the convertible furniture shown in my Patent No. 1,120,701 granted to me December 15, 1914, and inmy application patent Serial No. 11,938 filed March 5, 191.5. The subject matter of such pat ented application is an article of furniture which comprises a relatively stationary frame and members movable relative thereto which in one position form with the stationary frame a comfortable and` convenient chair or settee and in another position 'a comfortable and substantial bed or mattress support. In the construction of said prior application the bed is formed in part of a section or frame pivoted to the front of the stationary frame and adapted to swing outwardly to form the foot of the bedstead, in which position it is supported Vby a member pivoted thereto which in the closed position of the article forms the seat and arms of the chair. The bed or mattress support comprises in addition to the swinging section an intermediate member pivoted thereto and supported thereby, and a third or head section pivoted to the intermediate section and supported at its free end by themain frame in horizontal position when the article of furniture is open. rlFhe main frame is formed with guides which, when the article of furniture is closed guide lthe free end of thev bed section upward to permit the swinging section to be closed with the movable bed sections concealed between the same and the stationary frame. My present improvements have for their purpose increasing the rigidity of the construction without an increase in the 'weight thereof, securing greater comfort when the article is used either as a chair or settee or as a bed, improving the appearance of the article and increasing the convenience and ease of ma nipulating the same.

ln the accompanying drawings and following specification, l' have shown and de'- scribed in detail a preferred'form of my invention. It is to be' understood, however, 'that the specific disclosure is for the purpose of ereinplilioation only and that the scope article being extended for use as a bed; Fig.

2 is a similar view with the article folded and in condition for use as a chairl or settee, a part being shown in'section to better disclose the interiorl construction;y Fig. 3 isan enlarged vertical seetionon the line 3 3 of Fig. 4 of a detail showing the parts in the position which they occupy when the article is used as a bed; Fig. 4 is a transverse verti cal section upon the line 4 4 of Fig. l, a part, however, being shown in similar vsection upon another plane; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section upon the line 5 5 of Fig. 1 looking downward` in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 an enlarged vertical section upon the .line 6 6 of Fig. 5 looking in the i direction of the arrows; Fig. 7 a section upon the line 7 7 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 8 a horizontal section upon the line 8 8 of Fig.V l-looking downward; Fig. 9 a transverse vertical sec- .tion on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail in vertical section upon i the line 10 10 of Fig. 2; Fig. 11 a vertical Asection of said detail upon the line 11 11,

of Fig. 10, parts being shown in elevation and Fig. 1 2 a horizontal section upon the line 12 12, of Fig. 10. e

rllhe same reference numeral is applied to each part wherever it occurs throughout the several views.

Preferably' the frame of my improved article of furniture is made throughout of metal, though parts thereofmay be made of other material as desired. As shown the material chiefly employed'for'the frame is angle-iron which has the advantage of great strength for the weight of metal employed. The stationary frame consists of two side frames each comprising upper and lower horizontal members 13, 14,front and rear vertical lnembersor corner posts 15, 16, and inclined? struts 17 all formed of angle iron, the last namedbeing bent near its upper end at 18 to form the top section 19 and ion the inclined rail 20vwhich is fasteend to the v ySi) lower horizontal member at 21.. The side frames are connected together by rear cross pieces 22, 23, at the top and bottom thereof respectively, fronty cross pieces 24 and diagonal braces 25, 26, the last-named being best shown in Fig. 5. The side rails 14, 14, lrear and front rails 23, 24, and diagonal braces 25, 26, form the base of the stationary frame .and are secured together in position by casting iron or other metal about the joints thereof as shown more particularly in Fig. 6. rThe corner joints of this frame are formed by iron castings 27 which are preferably made by inserting the stripsor angle irons to be united in a suitable mold after first perforating them as at 28, 29, 30, and casting the uniting metal about them, which, as it flows into the perforations in the rail ends and also shrinks on cooling, firmly unites the strips together. The rear castings 27a are alsoformed with sockets 31 into which liners 32 may be cast or inserted for the purpose ofreceiving casters 33. The similar forward castings 27b are not formed with caster sockets but the side rails are extended forwardly beyond said castings and the front rails 24 and connected to front posts or uprights 15 by somewhat similar castings 27c in whichare formed the sockets for the front casters. The castings 27b in addition'to the front and side rails and diagonal braces secure the/lower ends of uprights 35'which are secured at their upper ends to the upper horizontal side rails of the chair: The braces 25, 26, are preferably secured together at their centers by a casting 36. In making these corner castings the bottom and vertical rails are preferably all assembled with their meeting ends inserted in molds in which the castings are to be made and the molds are then teemed in the usual manner. By this means I s ecure a frame of unusual rigidity and accuracy at a relatively low cost. Except where the castings Aare made as above described, the structural .steel is riveted or otherwise secured together.

To the uprights 35 upon opposite sides' of the chair are secured attaching plates 3,7 which are formed at their upper and lower forward corners with ears 38, 39, to the lower of which are pivoted the elbow members 40 of the swinging frame 41 of the bed. A panel between the elbow members forms part of the front of the chair when closed. rThe swinging frame comprises in addition to the elbow members on opposite sides `thereof a substantially rectangular frame 42 of angle iron, the side rails 43 of which are riveted at 44 to the upper ends of the elbow members and extend rearwardly past the same at 45 and are connected at their rearward ends by struts 46 to the elbow members 40 whereby rigid connections between said elbows and frame are formed. The frame 42 is upwardy bent at 47 to form a foot for the bed and is provided on its upper side, speaking with reference to the extended position ofthe article, with a suitable wire or other mattress support and on its under face and the outside of the upwardly-bent portion with upholstery 48 which, when the device is folded to form a chair, forms the back of the latter. The elbow members are suitably braced as for example by the corner pieces 49 and preferably connected by suitable cross pieces to increase the rigidity of the construction.

In order to assist in opening and closing the chair, tension springs 50 are connected at vone end to the upper ears 38 of the attaching plates 37 and .at the other to holes 51 in the struts 46, the construction being such vthat the spring is under tension tending to close the article of furniture in the position shown in Fig. 1 and under tension tending to open the article when the latter is closed as shown in Fig. 2.

Additionally to the rst section 42 the mattress support comprises an intermediate section 52 and a bodily movable head section 53, the former being pivoted directly to the foot section and the latter to the intermediate section. The intermediate section comprises a rigid boxing which may be formed of angle iron but preferably comprises sheet metal ends54 and transverse rails or angle irons 55, 56, connecting the same at their lower corners. In addition to said transverse rails the bottom of the boxing is formed or provided with braces 57 which may be extended diagonally or otherwise .and form a bottom for the boxing in addition to strengthening the same for a reason which will presently appear.

|The side rails of the frame 42 are extended beyond the struts 46 heretofore described to form ears 58 which are suitably pivoted to the upper forward corners of the end plates of the boxing and thereby support the latter, said end plates being inwardly flanged as at 59 (Fig. 8) to provide broad bearing surfaces against the faces of the angle iron struts 46, the location of the pivot with reference to said surface being shch that the boxing is strongly supported with its upper edges in the plane of the foot section of the bed when the latter is-extcnded. Preferably the end plates are fitted with outwardly-projecting heading GO with tapered ends which serves to protect the pivots and faces of said ends from scraping when the furniture is closed or Opened. Through the upper rear corners of the end plates of the boxing are pivoted the side rails of the head section 53 of the mattress support. said rails being connected at their free ends by a suitable transverse rail to form a frame. Upon the cuter faces of the side rails of the head section 53 at their free ends are mounted rollers 6l. which rest upon the ledges lill() intense' formed'by the horizontal wings of the upper horizontal members 13 of the main frame when the bedis extended. lnclined angle irons 62, are connected at one end to the rails 13 and at their othenend vto the verti-` cal rails 16 of the stationary frame, the angle of inclination being such that rearward pres sure upon the head bed section causes the rollers 61 to travel said inclines to fold u. -said section into a subhtantially vertical position, it being understood that after leaving the inclined guide 62 the rollers move up the flanges of the vertical post 16. t

'llhe action of the bed as thus far described in folding is that the hinged foot section being raised the intermediate sectiony at lfirst maintains its position relative to the latter but .the head section, due to the 'guides 62, begins to turn upward toward a vertical position. its the folding proceeds gravity causes the boxing or intermediate bed section to turn with relation to the foot section so that the parts ultimately reach the position shown in Fig. 2 with the boxing substantially horizontal and the' head sec tion vertical.

rl`he arms and seat of the chair comprise a rigid member `which is so pivoted to the upholstered side of the foot section as to dll titl

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.thereof andA comprising vertical' iron strips or rods 67 and inclined strips'or rods 68, the latter of which carry at their upper ends pivots 69 by which thel frame is attached to the swinging foot section of the bed. llhepivots 69 coperate with plate braclrets 'l0 riveted or otherwise secured to the side rails of the bed section. and formed with notched bearings (see dotted line, Fig. 3) to receive the pivots. Upon each bracket is pivoted at l1 Va plate` l2 which at one end' is formed with a rounded notch or hoolr 'f3` which in one position of the plate forms with the bearing notch in the bracket a substantially circular' opening in which the corresponding aivot of the seat frame lits. 'lhe other end ll of the pivoted plate is formed with a boss or projection which is adapted to spring into a depression l5 in braclret l@ (see Fig. 1d), to normally maintainy the swinging plate in the position'in which it retains the seat` pivot in the bearing. 'lhus the seat frame is normally pivoted to the foot section of the bed but may be readily released therefrom by" simply turning the pivoted loclring lplates holding the` pivots of said frame in position. 'lheseat proper may be mounted upon the seat frame in any sultable or well-known manner and may be either permanently attached to or detachable therefrom. rlhe arms constitute hous` ings for the supporting irons 67, 68, and may be built of Wood or metal or partly of wood and partly of metal as desiredv and upholstered in any desired shape, the housings, however, having openings in the rear thereof which are entered by the bracket plates to malte the connection with the seat supports. Ubviously, the arms may be stripped from said supports, if detachably secured to the frame by merely releasing the fastenings and lifting the arms od.

vSaid arms, however, should be lbroad and substantial enough to form ay suitable supn port upon which the bed section may rest. rlhe angle between the rear faces of the arms and the bottom of the seaty member is such that when the article is folded with the seat frame resting upon the upper horizontal rails of the main frame the arms ht snugly against the foot section of the bed which then forms the back of the chair or setteeand in order to brace the foot section or hack rmly in closed position l form openings 7 6 (see dotted lines in Fig. 1)- near the front end of said horizontal side rails into which project tapered lugs 77 secured to the bottoms of the side rails of the seat frame, the taper of said lugs being such that as the seat comes to final position on the main frame they exert a wedging action to ress the foot section or back firmly against the inclined rails of the stationary frame. Becausel of the engagement of said lugs with the sides of the stationary frame the seat frame forms a brace for the latter' and prevents any tendency to spread or collapse.

ln order tomaintain thearticle locked in closed position l provide an engagement between the stationary frame and the seat by which the two may be securedk together and v released only when desired. For this purpose the seat member is provided with a latch which may be mounted upon one or both of the arms or upon the front of the seat or elsewhere as desired and the main Aframe is provided vwith a stationary catch plate to receive the latch., .dis lshown in the drawings, the latch is mounted just below the seat within panel lla attached to the seatwhichlcoperates with a panel upon the upright portions of the elbow irons, as seen in Fig. 2, to mash' or conceal the interior incohanism of the chair. 'lhe latch is illustrated on an enlarged scale as heretofore sta-ted in 10, 1l and 12, the latch proper t6 being pivoted on said panel vat 'l2 and extend ing inwardly and downwardly and (engaging the plate 66 which may be connected in any suitable manner with the stationary frame "lll ieu

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l. llll llltl and extends upwardly between the elbow members 4:0. The latch is norma-llymaintained at its upward limit of movement by a compression spring 81 engaging a lug 82v projecting at right angles from the short arm 88 lof said latch as best seen in Fig. l2. I n order to release the latch a plunger 84 is mounted to slide in a hole l85 in the panel and guided at its rear end by a U-shaped bracket 86, said plunger being provided with an annulus 87 adjustably secured to the plunger by set screw 88, and arranged to engage lug 82 when the plunger is forced outward. Spring 89 between said bracket and annulus forces the plunger outwardly when it is not held inward by the dour to be now described. The plunger,84 is formed with a shoulder 90 (see Figs. 10 and 1,1) and t-he dog 91 is slidingly mounted upon the inner face of the panel as by means of slot 92 and screw 93 so that it may engage with or be disengaged from the shoulder on the plunger; and a spring 94 contained in a -recess 95 in-said panel engages a .lug 96 struck up from said dog and normally forces the latter downward into engagement with` the plunger so that when the latter is thrust inward the d og engages the shoulder abovementioned and maintains the plunger in inner position until said dog is pressed upward. Then the pressure of ,the spring 89 referred to above will force the plunger outward. The plunger extends 'through the outer face of the panel and is formed with a handle 97 which may be grasped in opening the furniture after the latch has been released as above described. Preferably the handle takes the form of a button which when in the inner position appears merely as an ordinary form of ornament upon the chair. By means of these handles the seat member may be raised suiiiciently to withdraw the lugs 77 from the slots in the main frame and then the seat structure is dra-wn,4 forward, the foot section of the bed and the the other sections following, unt-il finally seat member rests upon its legs and the foot section upon the seat member.

Eachv of the bed sections may be provided with any usual or desired metal or other mattress supporting fabric but it,I is more desirable and perfectly feasible to Stretch a continuous ipiece of such. fabric from head to the foot of the bed and preferably I employ a well-'known fabric of this character having longitudinal bands of steel which are suiciently pliable and resilient to bend vto lthe' extent necessary in folding the chair without injury. Between the cross pieces or braces of the box sect-ion and the mattress supporting fabric I preferably interpose coiled springs since said box is at the location where the heaviest weight is received and where it is customary to reinforce the -to the front of the stationar spring fabric. These springs are best shown in Figs. 8 and 9 at 98 andmay, if desired, be secured to the bottom of the boxing though this is not essential because of the narrow limits of the box.

As before observed, the rear end of the head section is free and may be raised. In order to support it in raised position I provide a pair of straps 99 whichare attached near the upper ends of the side frames on opposite sides of the stationary frame, and formed with holes or slits to receive buttons 100 upon the ends of the'side rails of the bed. To provide a plurality of positions a number of slotsmay be formed in the straps l which may be of leather or .other suitable panel near the inner or pivoted end of thel swinging frame and adapted when the frame is in closed position to form a portion of the front of the chair and a seat member pivoted to the swinging frame and adapted when the latter is in closed position to rest `upon the stationary frame, and a panel secured to said pivoted seat and adapted to coperate with the first said panel when the article is in closed condition to cover th front 0f the chair.

2. In an article of the class described, a stationary frame, a swinging frame pivoted frame comprising a bed section adapted 1n closed position to form a back for the chair, a Seat member pivoted to said bed section and adapted to support the foot of the latter when horizontal comprising a frame having side supporting members and brackets upon the swinging frame to which said side supporting members are pivoted.

3. In an article of the class described, a stationary frame, a swinging frame pivoted to the. front of the stationary frame comprising ay bed section adapted in closed position to form a back for the chair, a seat member pivoted to said bed section compris- Y ing a frame having side supporting memframe having pivot seats therein, a seat member having supporting members provlded wlth pivots adapted to engage said Lacasse .thereto comprising a bed and seat-bac formmg section, aseat member pivoted on said bedsectlon, brackets on the bed section having notches adapted to receive the pivots on the seat member and pivoted hooks adapted to maintain the pivotsA of the seat member in said notches.

6. ln an article of the class described, a

stationary frame, a swinging frame -pivoted thereto comprising a bed and seat back forming section', aseat member pivoted to said section and adapted to swing forwardly thereunder to form a rest therefor and when the latter is in folded position to rest upon the main' frame, a latch on saidseat member anda catch plate on said stationary frame adapted to coperate to maintain the article in closed position.

7.' ln an article of` theclass described, a statlonary frame, a swinging frame pivoted thereto and .comprising a bed and seat back forming section, a seat member pivoted to said section and arranged to rest upon the stationary frame when the article is closed,

a latch and catch upon thev seat member and main frame respectively for holding the article in closed conditionv and a spring actuated plunger for releasing said latch and means-for normally restraining the movement of the plunger.

8. lin an article of the class described, a stationary frame, a swinging frame pivoted thereto and comprising a bed and seat-back forming section, a seat member pivoted to said section and arranged to rest upon the stationaryT frame when the article is closed,

'a latch and catch upon the seat member and main frame respectively for holding the article `in closed condition and a springpressed plunger extending through said seat mem er to form a handle upon the outside thereof.

9. ln' an article of the class described, a main frame, a Swingin frame pivoted thereto and adapted to old againstthe main frame to form a chair and to loe eX- tended to forma bed, a seat member pivoted upon the swinging fra-me and adapted to form a chair therewith and to rest upon the stationaryr frame, a catch upon the stationary frame, a pivoted latch upon the seat member adapted to engage said catch,

a spring tending to maintain said' latch in engagement with the catch, a plunger adapted when `moved in one direction to engage and release the latch, ayspring for e moving it in said direction and a catch plate for maintaining the plunger inoperative.

10. In an article of the class described,

a stationary frame, a swinging frame pivoted thereto and adapted in one position to form ,a support for a bed and in the other position to close against said stationary frame, a second bed section pivotally connected to the first said section and straps se- -cured to the stationary frameI and adapted to support said head, section in an. inclined position. y

"11. lin an article ofthe class described, a stationary frame,` a swinging frame pivoted thereto and comprising a bed section and a seat back on the section, a seat member pivoted to said section and arranged `to rest upon the stationary frame when the article is closed, a latch and catch upon the seat member and main frame respectively for holding the article in closed condition and a sprin l pressed plunger extending through sald seating member to form a handle upon the outside thereof and adapted to engage and release the latch.

l2. ln a device of the class described, a stationary frame, a swinging frame pivoted thereto and extending substantially the full width of lthe stationary frame and a seat` therewith, pivotally connected to the swingv ing frame and adapted to support the foot 'of' the latter substantially at its side edges.

A 13. ln a device of the class described, a stationary frame, a swinging frame pivoted thereto and adapted to fold against the stationary frame toform ,a 'seat back and to swing to a horizontal position to form a bed support, a lseat structure comprising the seat proper, armsrigid therewith, said seat structure being pivoted to the swinging frame and adapted when the latter is in closed position to rest upon the stationary frame and when the swinging frame is horizontal to swing forwardly thereunder, the arms of the seat member receiving-'and supporting the side edges of the swinging member.

ALEXANDER D. ElilillU'lF'll. Witnesses:

ROBERT Donnnmnan, lFnDnLis Maionnn.

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